Pulling the plug on coal in Los Angeles

Mondays on the Beyond Coal Campaign’s Facebook page are dedicated to climate change. Of course, the big news is the President’s Climate Change announcement tomorrow. We also posted links to two climate-related events in the greater LA Area. Read on…

We started the day with an image from the White House Facebook page that featured the quote,”When it comes to the world we leave our children, we owe it to them to do what we can.” (http://ow.ly/mlOZ9)

Our next post was an article from the Chicago Tribune stating, among other things, Obama would call for greenhouse gas regulations at existing power plants. (http://ow.ly/mlPKg)

The first event we posted was a green mixer co-hosted by our sister campaign, the My generations campaign (along with GRID Alternatives and Assemblymember Cheryl Brown), this Thursday, June 27. This Inland Empire get together introduces members of the community to the solar industry so they can learn about local green collar jobs! (http://ow.ly/mlQ5F).

Our last post was an event being hosted by the Union of Concerned Scientists Friday, June 28. It is a forum looking into the effects of climate change on the affordability of homeowners insurance. (http://ow.ly/mlQI3)

SCOPE would like to invite you to a community walk this Saturday, June 1st 9 am to 1 PM. All of our organizations did amazing work to pass proposition 30 last November. We are continuing the work!

The June 1st walk will wrap up our Spring Civic engagement program. We have a goal of reaching over 8,000 voters and identify over 6,000 to continue to work with us and be a Progressive voter on other key issues.

We think that schools with the biggest needs should get extra funding, so we want to touch base with our supportive voters and make sure that we represent them as legislators are deciding how to divide up the funding.

We also want to make sure that the $128 million for energy efficiency is invested in communities of color, like South LA. Many of us have fought for this win and we need to prove that it can be sucessful!

So, we will also be signing up interested families who want to learn more about how the energy efficiency programs can help low-income communities keep their bills down

Can you join us on Saturday? Could you bring a few members with you?

If you want to get the word out on an issue you are working on, please bring materials to share!

Saturday will be a good model of how organizations like all of ours can work together and educate community members on all of our issues. Please take advantage of this opportunity and join us!

1,200 Plus March in Los Angeles on National Campaign Launch Demanding President Obama Take Immediate Action on Climate Crisis

The largest climate change rally in the city’s history coincided with marches across multiple U.S. cities calling for action to avert crises like Super Storm Sandy

LOS ANGELES – 1,200 plus activists and supporters from across a wide coalition of over 90 groups, led by Tar Sands Action Southern California and Sierra Club, marched today from Olvera Street and converged for a rally at City Hall where they unveiled a mega letter addressed to President Obama. The ‘Forward on Climate‘ rally – the largest environmental demonstration in Los Angeles’ history – coincided with thousands of protesters converging on Washington D.C. in the largest climate change rally in history, led by 350.org and the Sierra Club.

This was the first time such a wide array of environmental, humanitarian, religious, political, labor, civil rights, student, and community organizations came together in Los Angeles to demand action on climate change. Elected officials and community leaders called on President Obama to take strong action on the climate crisis and reject damaging projects such as the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. Actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. led the rally in Los Angeles and was joined by U.S. Congressional Rep. Henry Waxman, Councilman Jose Huizar, and other community leaders.

“All across America, citizens are rallying today to call for action on climate change, and I am proud to join my friends, neighbors, and constituents, here in Los Angeles,” said Congressman Waxman. “We’ve seen climate change coming for a long time, but now it’s here, and it’s getting worse faster and causing greater harm than we ever expected. There is simply no more important fight for the future of our children and grandchildren. President Obama has said he will lead this effort to cut carbon pollution and fight climate change, and every one of us here and at other rallies across the country need to support him. We must call for forceful action by the federal agencies and pressure Congress to start listening to the scientists.”

Clean energy supporters at the rally pointed to the significant steps Los Angeles is making towards breaking its own use of climate change pollution. The LADWP recently launched an aggressive strategy to end its reliance on two out-of-state coal plants that supply nearly 40% of the city’s electricity. The DWP has promised to fully transition out of the Navajo Generating Station coal plant in Arizona by 2015, and has launched a groundbreaking Feed-in Tariff (FiT) ‘solar buy back’ program – the largest citywide FiT program in the nation – that will bring rooftop solar and green jobs to Los Angeles. Nationwide, the Sierra Club and other groups have succeeded in retiring 139 coal plants and stopping 174 new coal plants from being built.

“We are sending a message to President Obama today that the planet can’t wait. Here in Los Angeles, we are working with our local utility – the LADWP – to stop using coal in our city’s energy supply,” said Aura Vasquez, Organizing Representative for Sierra Club’s LA Beyond Coal campaign. “That will help reduce our city’s climate change pollution footprint. But the time has come for the federal government to take strong action too, before it’s too late and global warming spirals out of control. We call on the President to make good on the promise he made in his State of the Union address to take on climate change. He must reject the Keystone XL pipeline and lead the way towards a 21st century plan that supports energy efficiency, conservation, and clean renewable energy.”

Activists voiced support for strong measures to preserve California’s water supply, coasts, and forests for future generations. Crippling drought, devastating wildfires, and super-storm Sandy have brought climate change home. The Forward on Climate rallies represented a growing groundswell calling for immediate action to ramp up renewable energy production and break our addiction to dirty and dangerous fuels like coal, natural gas, nuclear and tar sands oil.

“Burning tar sands bitumen produces three to five times the greenhouse gas pollution on a wells-to-wheels basis than conventional oil. By 2015, the oil sands industrial project could emit more greenhouse gases than the nation of Denmark” said Jack Eidt, Organizer for Tar Sands Action Southern California. “TransCanada’s proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL Pipeline would transport toxic and corrosive diluted bitumen from Alberta across the middle of North America to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. It would threaten contamination of rivers and freshwater supplies for six U.S. states, and still not produce the jobs promised.”

HUNDREDS FROM THE LOS ANGELES REGION TO MARCH AND CONVERGE AT CITY HALL URGING PRESIDENT OBAMA TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION ON CLIMATE CRISIS

The largest rally in the city’s history on climate change will coincide with marches across multiple U.S. cities calling for action to avert crises like Super Storm Sandy

Los Angeles, CA – Hundreds of activists and supporters from across a wide coalition of over 70 groups, led by Tar Sands Action Southern California and Sierra Club, will march on February 17th from Olvera St./Paseo de la Plaza and converge for a rally at City Hall. The climate rally – the largest in Los Angeles’ history – will coincide with thousands of protesters converging on Washington D.C. in the largest climate change rally in history, led by 350.org and the Sierra Club.

This is the first time such a wide array of environmental, humanitarian, religious, political, labor, civil rights, and community organizations have come together in Los Angeles to demand action on climate change.

Elected officials and community leaders will call on President Obama to take strong action on the climate crisis and reject damaging projects such as the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. The final lineup of politicians, celebrities, and key speakers is being confirmed.

Crippling drought, devastating wildfires, and super-storm Sandy have brought climate change home, and demonstrators in the Los Angeles region will send a message to the President and Congress that the time to act is now. Only strong measures will preserve California’s water supply, coasts, and forests for future generations. The march’s primary message is that the time has come for a renewable energy future that breaks the addiction to dirty and dangerous fuels like coal, natural gas, nuclear and tar sands oil.

WHAT: Largest climate change rally in the history of Los Angeles
WHO: Supporters of Tar Sands Action Southern California, Sierra Club, and more than 70 other organizations
WHEN: Sunday, February 17, 2013, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
WHERE: March from Olvera St./Paseo de la Plaza and converge at City Hall
VISUALS: Mega-letter to President Obama; activists carrying banners, and signs.

Los Angeles – Los Angeles’ newly-appointed Ratepayer Advocate, Dr. Frederick Pickel today presented his first public analysis of a proposed rate increase by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

Campaign Representative Evan Gillespie, for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, released the following statement:

The Sierra Club is encouraged by Dr. Pickel’s analysis. His support for the expanded energy efficiency program proposed by LADWP is a critical step to bringing relief for Angelenos looking to offset rising energy costs.

While this rate proposal covers the next two years, it is clear from Dr. Pickel’s analysis that the status quo means cost increases past 2014. Rising costs associated with dirty coal plants nationwide are driving a rapid decline in the use of coal at other utilities and LADWP should follow suit. LADWP’s proposal to exit the Navajo Generating Station in 2015 is a great start.

Still, according to Dr. Pickel’s report, LADWP customers will shell out more money over the next two years to cover the rising cost of dirty fuel than they will to meet the state’s new clean energy mandate. This has to stop. Rather than shipping more out of state to prop up aging coal plants, we should be investing in cost-effective local clean energy programs that build good careers and spending Angelenos hard-earned utility bills in our own communities.

The Sierra Club thanks Dr. Pickel and the newly-created Office of Public Accountability for its analysis of the current rate proposal. This timely analysis is crucial to helping LADWP’s Board of Commissioners and the public make the most informed decision during the coming weeks. We look forward to working with the Office of Public Accountability and LADWP to move the city beyond coal.

Come join us Wednesday July 11, 2012 at 6:00 pm at the Sierra Club Office for an evening of fun and activism.

Learn more about the campaign timeline and important events coming up that we need you to be involved in. We’ll discuss the next steps to win our campaign, work together, and take action, including engaging your city council. And to make it even better, food and beverages will be provided.

Vote moves support to clean up LA’s dangerous coal plants as city works to eliminate reliance on coal but resolution on opposing expansion of coal mine that serves plant supplying power to LA still pending.

LOS ANGELES – In a unanimous 10-0 vote today, the Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution to defend the recently approved mercury pollution standards set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency. The resolution was part of a coalition push – including Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal, Center for Biological Diversity, LAANE’s RePower LA, NRDC, and Scope LA – to urge the city to approve two resolutions that would support mercury pollution protections and oppose expansion of a coal mine in Utah. The Alton Coal Hollow Mine sends coal to the Intermountain Power Project, which currently sends one half of its electricity to LA’s Department of Water and Power. Sierra Club and CREDOAction.com partnered to deliver over 1,600 messages from Angelenos asking the City Council to vote in favor of protecting the much needed mercury pollution controls and opposing the expansion of the mine onto federal land near Bryce Canyon National Park.

Los Angeles still gets 39% of its power from two out-of-state coal plants. In 2010, the two plants emitted a combined 768 lbs. of toxic mercury. One teaspoon is enough to contaminate a 20 acre lake. EPA estimates that implementation of MATS nationwide will avoid as many as 11,000 premature deaths, 130,000 cases of aggravated asthma, prevent 540,000 missed days of work, and save the country $90 billion in public health costs by 2016. Until now, coal-fired power plants were the largest unregulated source of mercury pollution in the country. The resolution approved by the City Council today further reinforces commitments made by Mayor Villaraigosa, who recently joined Mayor Bloomberg and other mayors from nearly 100 cities from across the country in signing a letter of support for MATS.

In 2009, Mayor Villaraigosa pledged to eliminate coal from the city’s energy portfolio by 2020. Since
then, more than 15,000 Angelenos have taken action to support the campaign and LADWP has made important progress towards meeting that goal. In 2010, LADWP announced it would exit the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona by 2015. Furthermore, LADWP’s budget for 2012-13 contains critical investments in clean energy solutions like energy efficiency and rooftop solar, both of which are integral to replacing the dirty power from NGS and replacing coal with clean energy.

“While much work remains before Los Angeles is coal-free, new reminders of why moving beyond coal is crucial continue to arise” said Aura Vasquez, Associate Organizing Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “Whether it be the deadly impact these coal plants have on public health, the rising costs associated with coal power, or the new jobs LA can generate by getting more power from local clean energy, there are numerous reasons why the coal to clean energy transition is an urgent matter important to Los Angeles’ future.”

“The City of Los Angeles should be a leader in the national movement from dirty coal to clean energy, and these simple, common-sense resolutions are markers of the city’s seriousness in providing that leadership. We applaud the leadership of City Council and welcome the news that LADWP officials joined the City Council in support of the speedy passage of the resolution in support of this life-saving public health rule. ”

Action on the Alton Coal Mine was delayed until after the Council recess in July. Earlier this year, Sierra Club and its allies delivered 210,000 comments opposing the mine expansion to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM is taking the rest of the year to review comments.

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The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign is a national effort that aims to move our economy toward a clean energy future by stopping new polluting coal-fired plants, phasing out existing plants, and keeping U.S. coal reserves in the ground and out of international markets. To date, the campaign has locked in the retirement of 112 coal-fired power plants while blocking proposals for 169 new coal-fired power plants.